A process intensification approach for industrial plant decarbonization: Scale-up, techno-economic, and environmental assessment

Given the diverse sources of CO₂ emissions, selecting an efficient and cost-effective carbon capture technology is crucial. Although RPB absorbers serve as a potential replacement for traditional packed columns, scaling them up to an industrial level presents a challenge. This research outlines the design and provides a techno-economic, and environmental assessment of an industrial-scale carbon capture process utilizing a DETA solution. The RPB absorber was designed using an iterative methodology for carbon capture retrofitting in an existing petrochemical plant. A carbon-techno-economic analysis approach was developed to integrate process costs and carbon tax into a unified metric for simultaneously evaluating economic and environmental impacts. In the design of the RPB for the flue gas from the fired heater, the optimal liquid-to-gas ratio was determined. After designing the RPB, the variations in loading, CO₂ mole fraction, temperature, CO₂ capture level, and the concentration of molecular and ionic species in the liquid phase were evaluated in an industrial-scale setting using a steady-state rate-based model along the radial direction. The impact of operating parameters, such as liquid temperature, rotation speed, and solvent concentration, as well as their optimal values, on the total annual cost for minimizing CO₂ avoidance costs, were examined. Cash flow analysis showed that the implementation of carbon capture technology resulted in a net carbon tax avoided of 2771 k$/yr and a CO₂ capture cost of $12.3/t_CO2, indicating the cost-effectiveness of using intensified process technology to address environmental concerns and reduce the process equipment footprint.